Audio/Video · 1965
Recording of the Dolphin Peter after Being Given LSD
A reel-to-reel tape made on April 19, 1965, at John C. Lilly's Communication Research Institute on St. Thomas, with the sounds of the dolphin Peter after he was given LSD; Lilly can also be heard. Stanford University Libraries digitized the tape in 2014.
Transcript
Machine transcript (Whisper small and large-v3, October 2026), not yet reviewed by ear. Human speech occurs only in the first ninety seconds of the 67-minute tape; over the remaining non-speech audio Whisper produced only invented, repetitive text, which has been left out.
[0:00] Lilly: Starting tape number five at four minutes of six on April 19, Peter on two cc's of LSD.
0:05–0:59: no speech detected.
[1:00] Lilly: Peter has thrown the ball outside the tank, [leaving?] the music on permanently. I'll put it back in.
1:25–66:39: no further speech detected.
Historical context
This reel-to-reel audio recording captures the sounds of Peter the dolphin, a subject in John C. Lilly's research on animal communication and consciousness, after being administered the psychedelic drug LSD. Lilly himself is also audible on the tape. A physiologist and medical doctor, John C. Lilly is well known for his controversial work with dolphins and interspecies communication, as well as his research on the brain and consciousness involving sensory deprivation and the use of ketamine and LSD.
The recording was made on April 19, 1965 at Lilly's Communications Research Institute facility in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Lilly's experiments with dolphins and psychedelics at the CRI were part of his broader interest in exploring the nature of consciousness and the potential for communication between humans and other species. While his work was often criticized for its ethical implications and lack of scientific rigor, it remains a fascinating and deeply strange chapter in the history of psychedelic science and the study of human-animal relations.
Digital version reformatted by Stanford University Libraries in 2014. Original format: 1 1/4 inch analog audio tape reel, recorded at 3.75 ips, half track, stereo, with NAB standard equalization.
Subjects: Animal experimentation, John c. lilly, communications research institute
About this source
- Creator
- John C. Lilly
- Date
- April 19, 1965
- Type
- Audio/Video
- Held by
- Recording of the dolphin Peter after being given LSD, 1965 April 19, John C. Lilly papers, Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries (druid cd151tg6412).
- Language
- English
- Region
- U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas)
- Text
- Reading text. Reading text.
- Rights
- Stanford University Libraries, Special Collections; may be subject to copyright.